Give Me

Give me a squad
I will give you back the house
you grew up in
chasing bees in the summer
with your little brother
his laughter drifts over the grass
and scattered leaves

Give me a platoon
I will give you the school
where you met Wendy
on that day when the rain
soaked her woolen jumper
you both laughed at the smell
how did she learn to smile like that

Give me a division
of fourteen thousand men
I will give you the city
which ignored your ideas
leaving you alone
when you needed friends
should we stop killing
when we get to the children

Give me an army group
of eight hundred thousand men
I will give you a nation
where you decide where cities
are rebuilt
and what their names will be

Give me a nation
and if you are patient
I will give you Earth
take every grain of sand
and build a castle to the moon

Give me Earth
I will bring back your mother
smelling like a young woman
she will hold you tight
and say how you became
a good man
and never holding it against you
that you were driving the car
too fast around that bend
then left to cry alone
holding her broken body
on the cold wet asphalt

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22 thoughts on “Give Me”

Phheeww.. I loved the way it flowed. The end was very sad of course… but sometimes, sadness brings out the best!
A powerful and poignant piece indeed…thank you so much for sharing it , Shane… it’s a pleasure having you here!

I will turn the phrases
giving you glimpses of mysticism
and sensuality cloaked in daggers
where in the pit of my stomach
the venom spills out
pouring over me
burning into my guts. only my guts

I know now what you meant by your comment on my blog. None of us have to keep up with the others. It has be with us. The I, me and whole me.
It is a pleasure to discover your blog. It has been a long time when I responded so spontaneously. Thanks for that.

Wow. A fabulous treat to greet me, my first read in the day. So grateful!
Your images leap off the page… blended with a bit of disbelief and longing. Perfect grief mix… its been a while since I have experienced loss, but reading your words it is fresh, all over again.

Whoa man. That was a great piece. I’ve been actively writing most of my life. Lately my focus is on business related stuff and blues/rock songs (I’m in a popular band in NOLA) and I always love to read. I like the juxtaposition of (for lack of a better word) destruction with growth and then at the end you sort of flip it on us. Great work, friend.

I envy you Shane. Lovely Fiction is something where I have been a miserable failure. It took me 5 years for me to semi-complete a sci-fi novel I am currently writing and maybe a 10 years more when I actually finish it!

I wrote and published a lot between 1985 and 1991, including a collection of my published and awarded. So this praise comes from one who knows. very very good, Shane – well done. It evokes exactly what you want it to, without becoming too maudlin or sentimental. I’ll come back to it again, so I’ve bookmarked this.

Thank you. It is always a treat to hear comments like that from a fellow practitioner, particularly one as good as you. This one seemed to spill onto the screen without me doing much at all, very similar to one I wrote called What are Barriers. Is it fiction?? This story could taken several ways, and I normally keep a certain distance from the characters, so the final interpretation rests with yourself. I’m sure there are many people out there that wish they could silence their inner demons, so to speak.

As for the coffee grounds and Ground to Ground, love your work. Spread the word!!

Yes! I remember that one and it also impressed me so much. I also prefer the reader to make his own assumptions. Isn’t it funny though how some seem to write themselves… That’s not aways the case with mine though I wish it were! Take care.